Templum Vaticanum et ipsius origo / Il Tempio Vaticano e sua origine (The Vatican Sanctuary and Its Origin) [AN AMBITIOUS VISUAL, INTELLECTUAL, AND TYPOGRAPHIC ENTERPRISE]
Rome: Gio Francesco Buagni, 1694. First edition. Contemporary vellum over boards. Folio. [32], 489, [29: indexes (Latin and Italian); register] pp. Irregular pagination with hiatuses in the page numbers to accomodate the engraved plates. Latin and Italian text in parallel columns within plain double border throughout. Two title pages (Latin and Italian), each with woodcut devices with papal tiara; half titles for each book; 78 [of 79] engraved plates (views, plans, sections, prospects, and diagrams) included in the pagination (1 double page, 9 folding, remainder full page); woodcut initials and ornaments. Contemporary vellum over wooden boards (stained), spine with raised bands lettered in gilt. Latin title moderately foxed and stained; light to moderate staining and foxing (often largely marginal) throughout. Five of the folding plates and one of the single-page with large (15-30 cm) repaired tears, some extending into text and images (old professional restorations somewhat darkened). Plates a pp. 205 and 419: "Pianta del Tempio Vaticano Piazze e Portici" repeated (as issued); lacks full-page plate at p. 417: "Facciata e Prospetto del Tempio Vaticano." Overall a good, though imperfect copy.
First edition of this magnificently illustrated work by the highly respected architect and educator, Carlo Fontana (1634-1714). Fontana's student, Alessandro Specchi, later recognized for his design of the port of Ripetta in Rome, engraved the plates after drawings made by his teacher; the architect Antonio Valeri was in charge of surveying the basilica for the engraved plans. "The lavish illustrations, bilingual text, and aristocratic dimensions and pagination... were made possible by the sponsorship of the Congregazione della Reverenda Fabbrica di San Pietro. This committee of cardinals, prelates, and administrators of the basilica, responsible for the conservation, ornament, and restorations of the church, concerned itself with publications that propagated the fame of Saint Peter's throughout the world" (Millard). The Congregazione sponsored Fontana's research, under the commission of Pope Innocent XI, to demonstrate that Michelangelo's great dome had not been undermined by recent work on the reliquary chapels at the four piers of the crossing. Cicognara offers lavish praise for Fontana's opus: "Questa grande, e magnifica opera divisa con bella ordinanza, e ricca di numerose, e grandi tavole di bel disegno, e nitido intaglio... è la più completa che abbiasi intorno la storia, e la costruzione di questo sommo edificio. L’edizione non poteva essere più nobile, ed accurata / This large and magnificent work, beautifully organized and rich in numerous large plates of beautiful design and precise engraving... is the most complete edition available on the history and construction of this great edifice. The edition could not have been more noble and accurate."
The work is divided into seven rather unequal books: "In the first part, Fontana intends to demonstrate the superiority of Saint Peter's over all previous temples, and he situates his book within the tradition of those Greek writers, mentioned by Vitruvius, who described individual sanctuaries" (Millard). The second book traces the history of the earlier Constantinian basilica. Notably, the third book illustrates the raising of the Vatican obelisk, employing plates copied from the 1590 Della Transportatione dell'Obelisco Vatico et delle Fabriche di Nostro Signore Papa Sisto V / On the Transportation of the Vatican Obelisk and the Buildings of Pope Sixtus V, by Domenico Fontana (1543-1607). The fourth part treats the history of Saint Peter's square. In the fifth book, Fontana "exonerates the dome of Saint Peter's, finding it stable and solid" (Millard), thus fulfilling the requirements of his commission. The sixth book briefly discusses the Temple of Solomon. The chief point here, which Millard describes as a "bombshell," is to underscore the magnificence of St. Peter's through the comparison of its construction costs with the estimates made by Juan Bautista Villalpando for the Jerusalem Temple. These latter figures may be found in Villalpando's In Ezechielem explanationes et apparatus urbis, ac Templi Hierosolymitani (1596). The final book contains shorts descriptions of several Roman temples and the Cathedral of Florence, as well as the Pantheon, noting the ancient additions and alterations made by Agrippa.
Provenance and annotations: Old ink entry of Dodler Martens at top margin Italian title; inscribed paper slip tipped-in over the woodcut device at Italian title, dated June 1837, appears to reference Martens, with old ink stamp of Dr Dankes [?]. Good. Item #55450
Digital Cicognara Library 3731; Fowler 122; Millard (Italian & Spanish) 38.
Price: $6,000.00